I Prefer The Rain
by ElegantButler
Summary: When Demyx finds himself and an unconscious Axel in a Gundam Pilots' safehouse, he must come to terms with Axel's uncertain fate. Fortunately, he finds friendship in a kindred spirit.
1. Chapter 1

-I PREFER THE RAIN-

A GW/KH2 Crossover

By Axel Ingleson

The sitar player woke to find himself resting comfortably in a warm cozy bed. It was early morning and the sun was just starting to peek through the curtains. He sat up and gave a yawn which most people would've described as kittenish or cute. He rubbed the sleep from his eyes and looked around. No sign of the sitar which he had so loved to play. It broke his heart so that he sank back onto the mattress rolled over, and hid his head under the pillow so that no one could see him cry.

A young man, no older than the sitar player walked into the room with a tray of food. His hair was very long and worn in an expertly styled braid which reached down just past his tailbone.

"If you're awake, I've brought you some breakfast," he said, cheerfully. "You must be starving after your journey from… where are you from anyhow?"

"go 'way…" the musician sniffled.

"I'll just leave the tray, then," the cheerful young man replied, only slightly less cheerfully. "Name's Duo, by the way. Oh, Quatre's having your sitar repaired. Looked like it took quite a beating, but I think they'll be able to fix it."

"Arpeggio!" the blond exclaimed, suddenly sitting up. "I thought I'd lost it forever!"

Now more attentive, with the news of his sitar's impending repair and return, he suddenly realized that he was nowhere near his home. "Where am I?" he asked.

"You're safe," Duo explained. "You're in one of our safe houses. That's all I can tell you. It's for our safety as well as your own. Hey! You still haven't given me your name."

"Oh, sorry," the sitar player apologized. "It's Demyx. I was in a battle with this guy, I wish I hadn't been. I hate fighting. It hurts. I'd rather play my sitar. Why can't there be a world with no fighting."

"You sound just like Quatre," Duo told Demyx. "He doesn't like violence either. He's also a musician like yourself. Only he plays the violin."

"Violins can sound nice if they're played right," Demyx admitted. "But I prefer my Arpeggio. I just hope she'll come back soon."

"Well, eat your breakfast before it gets cold," Duo suggested. "Nothing worse than cold greasy sausages."

"Thanks, but no thanks," Demyx replied. "I'm too excited and nervous to eat right now. And," he added with a tone of slight dejectedness, "I'm also too sad. I'm so far from all of my friends."

"Not all of them," Duo told Demyx. "There's a man with a coat the same as yours in the next room. He got here an hour or so after you arrived. Nice tattoos."

"Axel!" Demyx was suddenly out of bed and half-way across the room before he noticed Duo holding something up to him. It was his clothes, all neatly washed and folded.

"Eek!" he exclaimed, realizing he was in his underwear.

Duo tossed Demyx the coat and the rest of his clothes.

"Turn around," Demyx requested. "I don't like getting changed in front of people."

Duo turned around and Demyx got dressed, wondering briefly how much money Duo spent each month on shampoo.

Coincidently, Duo was also wondering how much money Demyx spent on hair gel to keep up his mulhawk.

Demyx finished getting dressed and making his way to the next room to check on Axel.


	2. Chapter 2

-I PREFER THE RAIN-

A GW/KH2 Crossover

By Axel Ingleson

-Chapter 02-

"Please, please be alive," Demyx prayed quietly as he opened the door to the bedroom where Axel was resting. He couldn't bear it if the redhead died. Demyx loved Axel with every part of his being. There had been no other member of the Organization who made him smile the way Axel did. And Axel had stood up for him on many occasions.

Now, almost entirely alone on a new world he could not identify, and which he did not recognize from the O-13 database, he was counting on Axel to pull through, because without Axel, Demyx would be lost. He had no one here who would take care of him. None of them could ever hope to understand what it was like to be a Nobody. Only Axel could understand him. Axel was his only hope.

"I believe this belongs to you," said a voice from behind him.

Demyx turned and saw a man with short blond hair standing, holding the one thing that Demyx cherished more than any other object.

"Arpeggio!" he exclaimed. "Thank you!" he hugged the sitar to himself, then stepped quietly into Axel's room.

Sitting on the edge of the bed in which Axel slept, Demyx tested the strings of his sitar. They were all perfectly tuned and tightened. He looked down at Axel and smiled. He decided he would awaken the Flurry with a love-song.

Playing his sitar, he began to sing a little tune of his own devising:

Your fire lights my way

That's why I seek you out each day.

Your fiery red spikes of hair

Drive me mad in every way.

Please don't sleep. Awaken soon

I wish this was our honeymoon.

He paused at this, and wondered what he would do if Axel proposed. It would have to be Axel who proposed. Demyx didn't have the courage to ask. He feared rejection too much.

Looking down, he saw that Axel had not stirred at all during the entire song.

"Have you tried waking him with a kiss?" the blond inquired. "It works in all the fairy tales my sisters used to tell me. You never know. Stranger things have happened."

Demyx gulped. "I can't…" he admitted. "I'm too scared. What if he wakes up and he gets mad at me? Besides, I know for a fact that Axel's never been kissed. I can't steal his first kiss like that. It wouldn't be right."

"I understand," the blond smiled. "I never got a chance to introduce myself before. My name is Quatre Raberba Winner. Why don't you come and I'll introduce you to the others?"

"I can't leave Axel," Demyx shook his head. "He's all I have in this world. He's the only other person who understands what it's like to be a Nobody."

"Axel will be fine," Quatre assured him. "Come meet the others. Axel needs his rest anyhow."

Demyx would not budge, however.

"Very well, then," Quatre decided. "I'll bring the others here. If that's okay with you."

"That's fine," Demyx agreed. He watched Quatre leave to fetch his friends, then turned back to Axel. "Please, wake up! Please, Axel? I need you to wake up."


	3. Chapter 3

-I PREFER THE RAIN-

A GW/KH2 Crossover

By Axel Ingleson

-Chapter 03-

Quatre soon returned as he had promised. With him were Duo and two other young men, one of whom reminded him, vaguely, of Zexion. The other had short black hair and fierce eyes that looked like they'd witnessed many battles. Demyx felt instantly sorry for him.

"Wufei's not home, and you've already met Duo here. This is Trowa Barton and Heero Yuy," Quatre introduced them. "Trowa, Heero, this is Demyx."

Trowa and Heero both made noncommittal noises in their throats which Demyx wasn't sure was meant to convey "Hello" or "Go to Hell."

To Quatre they sounded as if they might have meant "Thanks for blabbing, stupid."

Quatre held up a finger, then led his two friends back outside.

"I have established that those two gentlemen are not from OZ, nor are they from anywhere near here. I think we can safely introduce ourselves to them. Especially the blond. I sense a kindred spirit in him."

"Just be careful," Heero warned. "If they prove a danger, I won't hesitate to kill them."

Trowa nodded, silently.

"You too, Trowa?" Quatre asked, sounding disappointed. "You know how I feel about that."

"If it must be done, it must be done." Heero explained.

"There's no need. My space-heart tells me that they are not even of this world. Though there is something odd about them that I cannot quite put my finger on."

"You said you sensed a kindred spirit in the blond," Heero recalled. "What did you mean?"

"It's strange," Quatre admitted. "But meeting Demyx was like running into a part of myself I lost a long time ago. I feel a bond with him I cannot describe."

Trowa's gaze darkened, just a little.

"Not that kid of bond, Trowa." Quatre reassured him. "It's more of a kinship of sorts. I wish I knew how to describe it."

Trowa nodded, the ghost of what might have been a smile playing upon his lips so briefly that Quatre wondered if he only imagined it.

*****

Demyx could hear their voices from outside the door, but could not make out what they were saying. It didn't matter to him. All he cared about at this point, now that he knew he was there, was Axel. Axel was the only friend he had on this world. They were both lost together, but it was better than being lost alone.

"Come on, Axel," Demyx pleaded. "Come on, wake up." He began playing Arpeggio again, the soft tune filling the room with a paradoxically sad cheerfulness, something only music could do.

Axel's eyes fluttered, then slowly opened.

Demyx paused. "Axel?"

"Keep playing, Demyx," Axel smiled. "I've always liked your music. It makes me happy."

Demyx resumed playing his sitar, as he played he spoke. "I've made a new friend," he said. "He's a lot like me in many ways. Pacifist, musician."

"Do you love him?"

"I suppose in a way I might. But not in the same way that I love you, Axel. I mean…" Demyx suddenly went beet red. He hadn't ever admitted his feelings to the Flurry before.

Axel smiled. "It's okay, Demyx," he laughed. "I guess I should've told you sooner. I love you, too."

"You… you do?"

"You're more important to me than anything in this world," Axel said, truthfully. "Which is where, by the way?"

"I honestly don't know," Demyx admitted. "Quatre only said we're in some kind of safe house."

"So, it's a warring planet of some kind," Axel realized.

"Seems peaceful enough in here," Demyx shrugged.

"It will be…" Axel began.

"…until OZ finds us." Heero cut him off. "And your name is?"

"Axel," Axel began. "A- X- E- L- got…"

"Where are you from?" Heero demanded, cutting him off before he could finish.

Axel glared at Heero, who glared back. It was the first time anyone had cut him off in the middle of introducing himself.

"It doesn't matter, since you've never heard of it, and you can't get there." Axel pouted, feeling a bit resentful at his 'got it memorized' having been interrupted.

"If you can get here, we can get there," Heero challenged. "So tell me where…"

"You can't get there," Axel said, triumphantly cutting off Heero, "because you're not a Nobody. Only someone who can wield the power of Darkness can travel between the worlds without aid. Got it memorized?" he added, feeling a sense of triumph at finally being able to say it.


	4. Chapter 4

-I PREFER THE RAIN-

A GW/KH2 Crossover

By Axel Ingleson

-Chapter 04-

Heero lie awake in bed that night, glaring at the ceiling.

~What did that Axel guy mean about not being a Nobody?~ he wondered. ~Just what is a Nobody anyhow? I wonder if Quatre's managed to work anything out. And that Demyx guy. Did somebody clone Quatre or something? They're so alike it's uncanny.~

"Demyx," Quatre asked as he approached the sitar player, who was sitting on the sofa. "I'm surprised you're not with Axel."

"Axel's sleeping," Demyx explained. "I decided to let him rest. I had no idea he performed a whole-being attack against those Assassins."

"Whole-being attack?" Quatre wondered aloud.

"It's where you put every ounce of your power into a single devastating attack," Demyx explained. "I wonder how he survived. I would assume that such a move would kill the person performing it. Wouldn't it? It sounds even worse than losing your heart, and I know how that feels."

"So do I," Quatre muttered.

"What did you say?" Demyx was suddenly on full alert.

"I said," Quatre replied, "that I understand what it's like to lose your heart. I was separated from my space-heart for a short time when… never mind. It's not important."

"Not important?!" Demyx exclaimed, "By Kingdom Hearts, do you know what this means? You're my Other!"

"Demyx," Quatre began, "I can't be your…"

"You've felt a piece of yourself missing ever since then, right?" Demyx asked, excitedly.

"Yeah," Quatre admitted, hesitantly.

"That piece is me," Demyx explained. "I'm your Nobody. It's what's created when you become a Heartless."

"When I was separated from my space-heart," Quatre remembered.

"This is so exciting," Demyx squealed. "If we rejoin, we'll both be whole again! We can be a whole person and…" he faltered as he looked across the room and at the hall where Axel's room was. "But you have your own boyfriend, Quatre. I can tell. If I join with you, Axel and I will be torn apart forever. I need time to think."

Quatre smiled, then retrieved a book from one of the shelves and began to read quietly, while Demyx contemplated the most important decision of his life. It was a choice that would not be easy to make.


	5. Chapter 5

-I PREFER THE RAIN-

A GW/KH2 Crossover

By Axel Ingleson

-Chapter 05-

At breakfast the following morning, Demyx was pleasantly surprised to see Axel sitting at the table with their four hosts, plus one other young man who wore his hair in a small pontytail.

"You must be Wufei," Demyx guessed. "I'm Demyx."

"You're not going to ask me to memorize it, are you?" Wufei asked, cautiously.

"Axel would probably set my hair on fire if I did, and I work hard to keep up this mulhawk." Demyx muttered.

"I'd never ruin your perfect hairdo," Axel assured him. "But tell me, why so sad?"

"I have a choice I need to make," Demyx admitted. "And no matter what I choose, I'll lose something important."

"Demyx," Axel asked, "would it help if I told you that I want to be at your side for all time? That I will be with you to support you in your decision?"

e

"What are you saying?"

"I want to marry you," Axel replied. "I want to take you home and be your husband. If you'll have me. Demyx? What's wrong?"

"Oh, Axel," Demyx wept, "I know I shouldn't. But I need time to think about it."

"But why, my love? What is there to think about?"

"Quatre," Demyx admitted. Then, seeing the look on Axel's face, he quickly added, "Oh, no! I'm not interested in him. He's my Other."

"Your Other?" Axel asked. "But his name…"

"I don't understand that part either, Axel," Demyx admitted. "All I know is that Quatre's in love with Trowa and if I rejoin with him, then I'll lose you. But if I stay with you…"

"You do whatever will make you the happiest, Dem'," Axel told him. "Look, why don't you go relax, think things through."

"I've been thinking it through since yesterday," Demyx admitted. "I could love you more fully if I had a heart, but in order to get my heart back, I have to lose you. It's not fair, Axel!"

"Whether you have a heart or not, you're still my Demyx. I want you to be happy."

"We all do," Duo spoke up. "Right, guys?"

"Right," Quatre agreed.

The other pilots remained silent. Most of them were trying to figure out what Demyx meant when he mentioned rejoining with Quatre. Trowa was giving the blond Nobody a jealous glare, but Demyx was too lost in contemplation now to notice.

Finally looked up.

"Quatre," he said, "I know you want to be whole, and I have sought my heart desperately for some time. But what good is a heart if you can't share it with the one you love? If we did rejoin I would lose Axel and my love for Axel would always nag at you when you were with Trowa. Axel, you asked me to marry you, and in order for me to do that, I would have to give up the heart and the wholeness which I have sought so desperately. But what use is wholeness when all it does is tear you apart?"

"Who are you and what have you done with Demyx?" Axel joked. "I've never seen you so philosophical before."

"I've never had anything to be philosophical about before," Demyx admitted. "But I've made up my mind."

"And…?" Quatre asked.

"Quatre," Demyx said, quietly, "You're a child of the sunlight, and I prefer the rain. Water is my element and I love to make it dance. To rejoin with you would mean losing that as well as losing Axel. I would be shattered rather become whole. That's why I'm going to marry Axel."

"Demyx," Axel asked, "are you sure?"

"Yes, Axel," Demyx nodded.

"Then let's go home," Axel suggested, opening a dark portal in the air beside him.

Demyx nodded, and stepped over to the portal. "It was good to meet you, Quatre," he said. "You, too, Duo."

"Nice to meet both of you as well," Quatre replied. "Demyx, my space-heart tells me you've made the right choice. Congratulations on your engagement."

"Thank you, Quatre," Demyx replied. "I'm glad I was able to meet you. I wish you and Trowa all the happiness in the world." Then, he stepped through the portal with Axel.

~Yes,~ he thought to himself, ~this was definitely the right choice. I prefer the rain. But a cozy fire is nice, too.~


End file.
